A group of Professor Matsuhiko Nishizawa of the Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University and the New Area Creation Department of the Institute for Advanced Studies has succeeded in developing an electric injection "microneedle pump".
"Microneedle", which is attracting attention as an advanced tool for "remote medical treatment" and "self-care society", is a "paste injection" in which a large number of short needles of several hundred microns that do not feel pain are lined up, and is percutaneous self-medication (self-medication). ) And its application to simple vaccine administration are increasing.
However, in the conventional dosing method in which a drug or vaccine is applied to or encapsulated in a microneedle and inserted into the skin, there are problems in the injection amount and the injection speed.
With the aim of solving this problem, this group has developed a porous porous microneedle (PMN) that enables high-volume, high-speed subcutaneous injection.In addition, focusing on the "electro osmotic flow (EOF)" that can be generated and controlled by electricity, there is also a "flow" mechanism suitable for PMN that generates EOF by fixing the electric charge in the needle hole. It was constructed.This made it possible to inject a large amount of drug through the skin at high speed and collect tissue fluid at high speed using PMN.
Furthermore, the Group believes that by combining this "PMN pump with EOF generation function" with the previously announced bio-power generation patch, an "all-organic disposable needle pump patch" released from the power supply will be realized. ..In the future, it is expected that the application to transdermal self-medication and simple vaccines in the fields of beauty, health and medical care will be materialized.
Paper information:[Nature Communications] Transdermal electroosmotic flow generated by a porous microneedle array patch
